Indian bowling lacks variation: Aravinda de Silva

Despite a good bowling performance against Pakistan, Aravinda de Silva feels India have a weak bowling attack and attributed the weakness to lack of variation.

"Whatever I have seen so far in this tournament, the Indian bowling attack seems to be weak. And when I am saying weak, it means pretty weak," de Silva told PTI.

Elaborating his thoughts on the Indian bowling, de Silva said, "The Indian bowling attack does not have much variation in either spin or pace. On Sri Lankan pitches which are slow and offer some turn, one needs to mix it up.

"I have not seen the Indian spinners try out different things against Australia. I felt that they were pretty flat and against sides which have good players of spin, this will be a problem," the 48-year-old explained.

de Silva said he was surprised when India had left out Virender Sehwag in the match against Australia and also mentioned that he was not being utilized as a bowler despite being a handy off spinner.

"Let me tell you that it's not an ideal situation to be in where you drop a player of Sehwag's calibre. Also I don't know the reason I don't see him bowling his off-breaks more often. Sehwag is more than a handy off-spinner.

"The advantage to have a bowler like Sehwag is that he does not think like a part-timer. He is someone who thinks like a specialist off-spinner which is very important," said de Silva.

When the question on Tendulkar's retirement was asked, de Silva said the batting legend should be "left alone" to take a call on his future.

"Retirement is an absolutely individual decision and Sachin has the right to decide about his future in international cricket. The decision does not depend on age but more on how your body responds to rigours of international cricket at that point of time," he said.

When asked about the future of the Sri Lankan team, with players like Mahela Jayawardene (35 plus) and Kumar Sangakkara (nearing 35th birthday) approaching the latter half of thirties, de Silva said the country has a lot of talent.

"Look, there is a lot of talent in Sri Lanka just like there is plenty of talent in India. After myself and Arjuna (Ranatunga) retired, Mahela and Kumar took up the mantle. Both are world class performers.

"Similarly, once they leave, there will be other talented players who will take up their place. Obviously, talent alone does not guarantee success at the international level as you need to be consistent too," he said.

De Silva explained why Ajantha Mendis has turned out into a lethal weapon in the Sri Lankan armoury.

"Ajantha is fresh in his mind after his comeback and that is the reason for his success. If one analyses Ajantha's international track record, only the Indians have been able to read him well. Any batsman who plays Ajantha for the first time will find him difficult to negotiate. That's why West Indies, who have not played against him struggled," de Silva reasoned.

So, which team will win the World Twenty20? Pat came the reply from de Silva, "Sri Lanka are one of the top contenders to win the title."